Heat shield for hood cap heating devices



Sept. 19, 1950 1. WlLCOX HEAT SHIELD FOR HOOD CAP HEATING DEVICES Filed Jan. 22, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. ISAA'J LIN: LE ax ATTURNiT-YE Sept. 19, 1950 l. WILCOX HEAT SHIELD FOR HOOD CAP HEAIING DEVICES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 22, 1948 V F F- IEAA: Li i vf g mx BY c w AT T GENE Y5 Patented Sept. 19, 1950 HEAT SHIELD FOR HOOD CAP HEATING DEVICES Isaac L. Wilcx,;Fulton, N. Y., assignor to Oswego Falls Corporation, Fulton, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 22, 1948, Serial No. 3,665

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to mechanism for conditioning bottle caps prior to their application to the tops of bottles.

The invention consists of an improvement in the cap conditioning or heating means of the machine disclosed in Patent No. 2,310,868, for a Machine for Applying Hood Caps to Bottles.

The machine structure disclosed the patent referred to is operable to automatically apply hood caps formed of sheet fibrous material, uch as paperboard, to the tops of milk bottles. The uncapped bottles are advanced in a procession past a cap applying station. Caps are withdrawn from a supply and advanced through a heating oven to render the adhesive material tacky, or sticky, on the cap skirts. The caps are conveyed through the oven to the cap applying station Where they are positioned on the tops of the bottles at the station and thereupon the cap skirts are contracted and sealed about the necks of the bottles.

For certain applications, it is desired to use caps coated with what is known as a hot melt adhesive, this coating serving to render the caps moisture resistant, and the coating also serving, when subjected to heat, as an adhesive for securing the overlapping portions of the cap skirts together. In this case however, it is desirable to only heat the skirt portions of the caps. In other instances, it is desirable to use caps formed from sheet fibrous material which have been heavily impregnated with wax, the thermoplastic, or other adhesive material, being applied only to the peripheral margin about the edge of the skirt portion of the cap.

In order to apply bottle caps at a speed comparable with present day filling machines, the practical time during which the caps may be exposed to heat is relatively short, and in order that the adhesive material on the cap skirts may be properly conditioned, it is necessary to employ a cap heater capable of operating at a high temperature. Under these conditions, if the caps are of the type coated with a hot melt adhesive, or are formed or drawn from heavily waxed impregnated board, this high temperature overheats the central portion of the cap, or boils the Wax out of the cap. In either case, the effect is harmful to the cans, resulting in the overlapping portions of the skirts of the caps failing to seal, or otherwise rendering the caps unfit for the purpose for which they are intended.

This invention has as an object a cap conditioning mechanism intended particularly for use with caps of the types referred to above, and embodying a structure by which the central dis- 2 coidal portion of the cap is shielded from the excessively high heat while the adhesive coated skirt portions of the cap are properly conditioned.

The invention consists in the novel features and in the combinations and constructions hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In describing this invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which like characters designate corresponding parts in all the vieWS.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a cap conditioning apparatus embodying my invention and including a contiguous portion of a bottle advancing turret, this view corresponding in general structure and arrangement to the right-hand portion of Figure 3 of Patent No. 2,310,868.

Figure 2 is a view taken on a line corresponding to line 22, Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of the cap shield conveyor mechanism, the view being indicated by line 33, Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a plan view of one of the bottle caps.

The uncapped bottles It are advanced in a procession by a turret H past a cap applying station designated at E2. The caps are heated, or conditioned, in a cap heater or oven !3 which is of general arcuate formation and in which are arranged a plurality of radiant heaters it. The caps are advanced through the heater by an annular series of cap carriers it. These carriers are formed of sheet metal and are bifurcated to receive the neck portion it of the bottles !0.

The cap carriers T5 are mounted upon a turret is rotatably journalled on post 59, the lower end of which is threaded to receive a nut 20 journalled on antifriction bearings 2i in the top .plate of the base 22. The nut 2B is provided with a sprocket 23 connected to a hand. crank by a chain transmission, whereby the nut may be rotated to adjust the post I9 vertically to accommodate bottles of difierent height advanced on the turret H, as described in detail in Patent No. 2,310,868. The turret I8 is sup-ported on an antifriction bearing 2 mounted on the upper end of a spider Z5 fixedly secured to the post. A gear 25 is secured to the upper end of the hub portion 2'? of the turret and is arranged in mesh with a pinion 28 secured to a drive shaft 29.

The carriers iii are each mounted upon a stem 3-6 slidably mounted in apertured bosses arranged at the periphery of the turret I8. Each stem carries at its lower end a roller 3i engaging an elevating cam 32 carried on the spider 24.

With this arrangement, as the turret is rotated, the stems 30 and the cap carriers I are moved up and down. The high portion of the cam 32 extends beneath the cap heater I3. The low portion of the cam extends approximately from the position 33 to the position 34, Figure 2. In other words, as the cap carriers approach the cap applying station indicated at l2, they are descending, and the arrangement is such that they position the heated cap centrally on the top of the bottle ID at the cap applying station, the-carrier moving downwardly about the neck N5 of the bottle, as indicated in Figure 1, and continues on the low portion of the cam 32 to the station 34 where a new cap is transferred from vasupply and deposited on the carrier. The carrier is then elevated onto the high portion of the cam during the travel of the cap through the heater.

A circular plate 35 is secured to the hub 21 of the turret l8. This plate is formed on its under side with a plurality of radially extending T slots :to slidably receive stems 36. The upper face of the plate 35 is formed with a plurality of radially extending slots in which are slidably mounted racks 38 retained in the slots, as by gibs 39. The upper surface of the stems 35 are formed with gear teeth, as at 30, and the racks 38 are provided with gear teeth on their lower surfaces. The racks 38 are arranged in mesh with a pinion 12 secured to a gear 43 which, in turn, meshes with the lower racks on stems 3B. The pinion and gear are journalled upon a stud 44 mounted 'in a bracket 45 secured on the periphery of the plate 36 in register with each pair of racks 36, 38. Each of the racks 38 is provided at its inner end with a roller 46, these rollers being arranged in a cam groove 41 formed in a cam plate 18 secured to the stationarygear housing 49.

The stems 36 are arranged to move radially above caps 50 positioned on the carriers l5, and each of the stems is provided with a shield 5| commensurate in size with the central discoidal portion 52 of the bottle caps, the marginal skirt portion 53 of which is coated with material rendered adhesive by the application of heat, and

which serves to permanently secure the overlapping pleat portions 54 of the cap together when the skirt is contracted about the neck l6 of the bottle, this contraction being efiected by contracting heads 55 traveling in synchronism with and above each of the bottles.

The cam groove 4'! is so formed and arranged that when the caps have been applied to the carriers [5 at the station 34, Figure 2, the upper racks 38 are moved radially inwardly. This inward movement effects a counterclockwise rotation of the pinion and gear 42, 43, and this rotation of the gear 43 effects radial outward movement of the stems 4D to position the shields 5| over the central portion 52 of the caps. The shields remain in this position while the caps are advanced through the heater l3, and as the caps leave the heater, approaching the applying station l2, the racks 3B are moved outwardly effecting inward movement of the stems 36, withdrawing the shields to the position indicated at 51, Figure 2, at which time the caps are positioned on the tops of the bottles at the cap applying station I2, and the heads 55 descend to contract the skirt portion of the cap about the top of the bottle. The shields remain in their innermost position until the carriers pass the station 34. Accordingly, the shields are automatically extended and withdrawn and are effective to shield the central portion of the cap from the efiect of the heaters I4 and thereby prevent undue softening of the Wax in that portion of the cap.

The structural details as to the cold cap transfer, power drive, bottle transfer, etc., may be had by reference to the Price Patent No. 2,310,868, this invention having to do only with the cap conditioning mechanism.

What I claim is:

l. A mechanism for heating bottle caps prior to the application thereof to bottle tops comprising a cap heating means, an endless series of cap carriers operable to advance caps from a supply through said cap heating means, in heat exchanging relation thereto, to a cap applying station, a heat shield arranged in juxtaposition to each of said cap carriers and being movable'into and out of heat shielding position intermediate the central discoidal portion of the cap and-said heating means, said shields being operable in shielding position to shield the central discoidal portion of the cap from said heating means, and actuating means operable to move said shields into shielding position during advancement of the caps through said heating means, and to move said shields out 'of shielding position as the caps approach the cap applying station.

2. Mechanism for heating bottle caps prior to the application thereof to bottle tops, said caps being formed from wax impregnated fibroussheet material, the skirt portion of said caps being provided with a substance rendered adhesive by the application of heat, said mechanism comprising an annular series of cap carriers operable to advance caps from a supply through a cap heating means in heat exchanging relation thereto, a heat shield arranged in juxtaposition to each of said cap carriers and being movable in shielding position between the central portion of caps on said carriers and said heating means, said shields being operable in shielding position to shield the central discoidal portion of the cap from said heating means, and actuating means operable to move said shields-into shielding position during advancement of the caps through said heating means, and to move said shields out of shielding position as the caps approach the applying station.

3. A mechanism for heating bottle caps prior to the application thereof to bottle tops, said caps being formed with wax impregnated sheet fibrous material, said mechanism comprising an arcuate cap heater, an annular series of cap carriers operable to advance a procession of caps from a supply through said cap heating means to a cap applying station, a heat shield arranged in juxtaposition to each of said cap carriers and being movable into and out of shielding position between the central portion of caps on said carriers and said heating means, said shields being operable in shielding position to shield the central discoidal portion of the cap on said carriers from said heating means, actuating means operable during movement of said carriers to move said shields into shielding position during advancement of the caps through said heating means, and to move said shields out of shielding position as the caps approach the cap applying station.

4. A mechanism for heating bottle caps formed of wax impregnated sheet fibrous material comprising an arcuate cap heater, a turret journalled below the heater, an annular series of cap carriers mounted on the turret and operable upon rotation of the turret to advance a procession of caps from a supply through the heater to a cap applying station, a stem slidably mounted in the turret adjacent each of said cap carriers, a shield secured to the outer end of each of said stems, said stems being movable radially of the turret, a shield secured to the outer end of each of said stems, means cooperable with said stems upon rotation of the turret to move the same outwardly to position said shields intermediate the discoidal portion of the caps in said heater during advancement of the caps through the heater, and to move said stems inwardly to move said shields out of shielding position as the caps approach the cap applying station.

ISAAC L. W'ILCOX.

6 i REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in-the file'of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

